And if so, it’s completely undermining your training and any results you’re hoping to see.

From an aesthetic PoV, the way you eat has the profound power to elevate training performance, enhance recovery, accelerate fat loss, and catalyze muscle growth. It’s like a moving airport walkway or a high-powered fan — it accentuates your habits and propels everythingforward, faster.

Effectively, when your diet is a disaster, the hard work you do put in barely keeps your body afloat. And if that effort slips whatsoever—and it will, once you inevitably lose your motivation from a lack of results—your body fat is bound to skyrocket and your physique will spontaneously combust.

To help revamp your “diet” (read: your pattern of eating) we’ve concocted the de facto Lean It UP Clean Eating Manifesto. It’s an insanely simple, straightforward, nutritional blueprint that’s designed to help streamline HOW you eat and actively build a killer physique; in a way that’s highly flexible, SUSTAINABLE long term, and not a royal pain in the ass.

Think of it as the 10 Commandments of eating, except that we beefed it up to 17 essential rules.

Follow it and not only will you build muscle tone, drop body fat, and keep it low—gasp, you might even see a few abs blossom—but you’ll gradually construct a body that’s glowing from the inside-out, immune from disease, bubbling with energy, and designed to stay strong in the long run.

Don’t call it a diet. I absolutely hate that word — it implies that you’re following a temporary eating pattern. Call it a lifestyle. This is how you’re living. And it starts right now.

17 Nutrition Tactics To Eat Cleaner, Live Leaner, And Build The Ultimate Body

You’re busy and we won’t bullshit you. Our rulebook is completely free of gimmicks and trivialities, as we’ve stripped it down to the bare essentials that are tried and tested to work effectively.

Eating healthy and effectively really isn’t that hard. It just takes a little discipline and a slight recalibration.

Ready? Start with #1.

1. KNOW Your Calories.

Calories matter. You just don’t have to count them.

At the foundation of any diet—regardless of what goes in—engorging yourself with food will lead to weight gain, and eating an all-celery diet will lead to weight loss. It’s energy balance, and those core principles almost always hold. But nutrition is highly sophisticated — the QUALITY of weight gain/loss (i.e. muscle, fat, water) will vary immensely depending on a spectrum of factors.

Your move: use your personal calories as a guideline.

Knowing a rough estimate of your body’s caloric maintenance gives you a frame of reference to work with, and a number to shoot for. That ballpark helps keep your eating in check — and immediately magnifies the impact of a 1,800 calorie Sonic Blast.

To get there, follow two easy steps:

(1)Calculate your maintenance calories. Use this calculator, pop in your information, and it’ll spit out a number. That’s a rough approximate of how much you should be eating based on your metabolism and activity levels.

Plus, food labels are notoriously inaccurate. By law, labeled calorie counts are allowed to exceed labels by up to 20%. TWENTY. One study in the Journal of The American Dietetic Association found that calorie counts on packaged foods exceeded labels by 8%, and those on restaurant menus by a whopping 18%.2345

Over time you’ll develop nutrient deficiencies, inflammation, and degenerative diseases. Blood sugar levels chronically spiral, which (A) triggers fat storage and (B) leads to insulin resistance and diabetes. Eventually, the body forgets how to use stored fat as fuel, as it becomes overly reliant on glucose — that equates to early fatigue, horrible CV fitness, and the inability to burn off body fat.

But once you cut out all of the garbage—and replace it with whole, fresh, nutrient-dense powerhouses—your body gradually refreshes itself, resets its hormones, and re-learns to function as it was designed.

Additionally, you’ll be able to rely on automatic cues to regulate hunger. Americans are hungry ALL THE TIME because of what they eat. Protein, healthy fats, veggies, and complex carbs all boost satiety and work in concert to produce a feeling of fullness.

hi i totally agree with being lean. I am going to florida at the end of this summer and want to have that type of body. Im first yr at uni (so freshman 15 is very real). Im 5’8 155 lbs at about 13% body fat. Im pretty athletic so i have a more muscular build but most of my fat sits at my belly. I want to gain some noticeable muscle and loose a lot of the fat to show some abs. What would you suggest?

You’re working with 2 competing goals, which’ll make that tough in a short time frame — I’d do a mini “bulk” and focus on building muscle (lift heavy weights, up your calories slightly) for 1-2 months. Add some mass, then cut your calories back, keep your workouts INTENSE, and do HIIT 2-3 days per week.

You’re not that far off though, work hard over the next 3-4 months and you’ll get there. Keep your eating on point.

Hey Jack — If muscle gain is your #1 priority, cut out the included HIIT for the time-being.

Katarina

Is it a better idea to try bulk up (eat more, less cardio) BEFORE trying to lose some weight and get leaner? Does it matter if I add in HIIT to my workouts and cut back on calories and then have a “mini bulk?”

Katarina

I guess what I’m asking is, does order matter?

Jake

Hey Brian,
Was wondering if you could help me out as am a bit confused with the direction I’m heading in. I’ve got 3 months until I go on holiday and am looking to pack on lean muscle in that period (currently 6’4 180lbs). What would you recommend? Thanks for your help!

Lexi

This page is fab, taking on board everything said here. My only question is do you have any tips on how to stop yourself from gorging and then feeling guilty? This is my one issue! Especially with sugar!! Thanks 🙂

Hey Bryan, this is a little off topic but I know who to turn to for direction. I’m a fitness instructor and will be attending a certification program this weekend. From what I understand it’s pretty intense. Two days of multiple workouts throughout the day. (Body Pump-lighter weight, hundreds of reps.) My question is about eating while I’m there. We’re told to pack lunches and snacks for each day. While I know how to eat AFTER a workout I’m a little puzzled on what to pack for a day full of workouts. I want to give my body enough fuel for before, after and during workouts but not be too heavy to hinder the next workout. I hope that makes sense. I will have a refrigerator in my hotel room so taking cold food and ice packs, thankfully, is an option if needed. Thanks for your help!!

It really depends how much time you have in between workouts AND how intense they are (sometimes cert classes aren’t overly intense), but for a quick turnaround you’re looking for protein + carbs that are easily digestible.

If you’ve got less than an hour between workouts I’d go with a light protein shake, fruit (bananas are ideal), and a coconut water. Greek yogurt with granola or cereal is also legit (the sugar is beneficial for energy and quick recovery). Protein and energy bars are also great options.

If you have an hour or more, you can go with everything above, but you could also totally eat something more complete like a quinoa or rice bowl with chicken and veggies, almond butter/banana/honey sandwich, sweet potato with grilled chicken, oatmeal/banana, etcc. Just keep the portion size relatively small so you’re not stuffed with food.

Also make sure to HYDRATE excessively. Sounds like a blast, enjoy it!

Sarah Grover

Awesome, grocery list made! Thanks so much for the ideas.
Btw, you say it sounds like a blast because you won’t be the one not able to walk Mon. J/k, it’s my first so I’m ridiculously excited!